Sacks could be limited against Bears

The Bears offense has allowed the third most sacks in the NFL with 28 and will face a Texans defense that has the third most sacks in the NFL. (Karen Warren/Chronicle)

The Chicago Bears offense has allowed the third most sacks in the NFL with 28 and will face a Texans defense that has the third most sacks in the NFL.

A recipe for a downpour of sacks? Perhaps not.

“We didn’t think we’d get many sacks against Buffalo because they’d only been sacked eight times,” Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said. “We got him four times, so you don’t know in a game how it’s going to go, the matchups and that kind of thing. We just try to rush as hard as we can against every team we play.”

Phillips said Jay Cutler gets sacked often partly for being mobile.

“We had that with different quarterbacks with (QB Tony) Romo when I was with him,” Phillips said. “He got sacked some. They get sacked some, but they also make big plays, so if you take away their movement, then you don’t get sacked too much.

“We all understand that. Sometimes you have to give them a little freedom, the quarterback, to be able to move around to make his plays. If you just say, ‘Hey, go back and throw it every time.’ Well, then you lost some of the spontaneity and some of the big plays that those kinds of guys can make.”

Mercilus gets an extra sack
The Elias Sports Bureau, which oversees statistical data for the NFL, has awarded rookie defensive end Whitney Mercilus a second sack against the Bills on a fourth-quarter play that was originally ruled a Ryan Fitzpatrick fumble.

That means Mercilus, the Texans’ top draft pick, has three sacks in the last two games while forcing two fumbles. He’s now third on the team in sacks behind fellow defensive ends J. J. Watt (10 1/2) and Antonio Smith (four).

Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said Thursday that he’s seeing a parallel in how Mercilus’ “light is coming on” to J. J. Watt’s development through the course of his rookie season last year.

“Whitney’s earned more (playing) time,” Phillips said, “so we’re going to play him more. If a guy’s playing good, we’ve got to keep him in there.”

Daniels still not practicing
Cody and tight end Owen Daniels were the two players who never even went to the practice field Thursday. Daniels has a hip injury, and Kubiak said playing Sunday in Chicago without practicing all week would not be a problem for Daniels.

Running back Ben Tate (hamstring) did not practice either, but did some individual work with trainers.

Receiver Kevin Walter returned and was limited, but able to practice more than expected.